Now that Apple's iPhone has swept the consumer market off its feet, it's moving toward becoming a dominant enterprise device as well.

During a media conference at its San Francisco headquarters today, Apple unwrapped a host of new features that are designed to make the iPhone more attractive to corporate users. The biggest piece of the enterprise package will give iPhone users access to Microsoft's Exchange ActiveSync, which will provide them with secure over-the-air e-mail, contacts, calendars and global address lists. The addition of Exchange ActiveSync's built-in support will give IT departments the ability to set password policies, to set up VPN settings and to perform remote data wipes on iPhones that have been lost or stolen, Apple says. The iPhone will also soon support Cisco IPsec VPN, which Apple says will "ensure the highest level of IP-based encryption available for transmission of sensitive corporate data." (See: Apple integrates Cisco’s VPN client into the iPhone.)

Both Exchange ActiveSync and Cisco IPsec VPN will be made available in Apple's iPhone 2.0 software, which the company says is scheduled to be released in June and will be given to all iPhone customers as a free software update. Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who acted as master of ceremonies at today's media event, declined to comment directly when asked by reporters if Apple hoped that its corporate upgrades to the iPhone would make it competitive with Research in Motion's popular, enterprise-centric BlackBerry mobile device. Jobs did, however, allude many times to RIM's recent network outages, and he took some subtle digs at the BlackBerry's security infrastructure.

"You have to wonder about [BlackBerry] security," Jobs said during a Q&A session following the announcement. "All BlackBerry e-mails go through [RIM's network operations center] in Canada… you have to wonder, can someone look at my e-mail while it is there?"

Over the past year, some analysts have warned IT departments to not allow the iPhone to connect to their networks, noting that it has no way to deliver secure corporate e-mail or to encrypt data sent and received through the device. Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of marketing, acknowledged these concerns today and said that these new features were a reflection of what Apple customers have told the company would make the device enterprise-worthy.